Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Kuwait plans to return its military to the border with Iraq.

Kuwaiti sources said the Gulf Cooperation Council sheikdom has decided to redeploy army units along the border with Iraq. They said the order was issued by Emir Sabah Al Sabah in wake of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant war in the sheikdom’s northern neighbor.

“All of the previous arrangements have been temporarily voided,” a
source said.

The sources cited the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait. The
zone, established after the 1991 Gulf war, has extended up to five
kilometers in Kuwait along its 217 kilometer border with Iraq.

The Kuwaiti daily Al Anba said the military has drafted a plan to
reinforce the border with Iraq. In a report on July 5, Al Anba said the
military would replace 800 Border Guard officers with army units.

Under the demilitarized zone agreement, thermal and other cameras were
meant to relay information on suspected infiltration. But the sources,
citing lack of maintenance, said the cameras have long stopped operating.

The report came in wake of the deployment by Saudi Arabia of 30,000
troops along the kingdom’s 800-kilometer border with Iraq. So far, the
sources said, Iraq has maintained its military force along the Kuwaiti
border.